


Beyond a Shadow made of Doubt

by LyricsLoveAndBooks



Series: Four (Linked Universe) [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Four (Linked Universe)-centric, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyricsLoveAndBooks/pseuds/LyricsLoveAndBooks
Summary: Four finally gets to go home after months away. The Links get to meet the colors and Shadow. The shades learn how Shadow coped with being lonely.
Relationships: Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Shadow Link & Vio Link, Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Shadow Link/Vio Link
Series: Four (Linked Universe) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002960
Comments: 20
Kudos: 197





	Beyond a Shadow made of Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> Notes
> 
> Wild is learning to read from Four/Vio
> 
> Shadow Link and Vio Link are in ~love~
> 
> Shadow lives with the other Links 
> 
> Four's dad passed away a while before he went with the others
> 
> He hasn't split the whole time he's been with the guys
> 
> The other Links are not the focus of this so opp
> 
> Also no beta like always ass
> 
> This work is Dialogue -heavvyyyyyy-.

The drop isn't terrible this time, they fall together right into a small forrest. Wild's getting set to climb a tree by the time that Four is standing. He takes a good look around and tries to ignore the screaming in his head. 

'Home! We're home!' Red's glee is surely painted all over his face.

'Not quite Red. We're back in our world, sure, but I think this is the Minish woods.' Green is trying to gather their strength without vomiting, the shifts always get to them. 

'Thank the Goddess. A place with a real library. I've reread that novel six times now.' Vio pulls Four's hands to dust them off. Reaching down to quickly stretch before reaching for their bag. 

'At least we're out of Wild's Hyrule, if it rained one more time I swear to Hylia-' Blue was cut off with Time clearing his throat to get their attention. 

"Anyone claiming?" 

"It's mine. I think we're in the Minish woods. Homes not far from here, just give me a minute to try to not throw up." He rubbed a hand over his face, hoping to calm his queasiness down. A pull from his ankles made him shiver, and he felt a soft warmth from beneath him.

'Oh Golden Goddesses, I forgot!' 

'How the hell are we gonna explain-' 

From, seemingly, the shade of a tree a figure jumped out and tackled Four wrestling with him on the ground for a moment as he let out a loud laugh. Four cringes as his world gets turned upside down, but he immediately goes to push the shade back, hoping to get his friend's attention before-

"Ow! Fuck!" Shadow pulls off of him and away from the group, teleporting a few feet behind him as he nurses his shoulder, which has a fucking arrow through it. 

"Legend!" Twilight shouts as he watches the other hero lower his bow. The group either has a shield or a bow raised, eyes cocked at the figure on the ground. 

"You're new friends aren't very nice..." He took a moment to look him over, "Rainbow." He plucked the arrow from his body, turning it over in his hand, ignoring the others as they murmured. He tossed the arrow back to Legend who caught it without breaking eye contact.

"Four, who is this?" Wind's voice sounded from the back of the group, his shield in hand but not raised. 

"Why does he reek of dark magic?" Legend's bow is back up, aiming at Shadow. 

"Guys it's okay, he's friendly. This is Shadow Link, Shadow, these are other reincarnations of the hero's spirit." Four holds his hands out hoping his brought at least a moment of peace. "He's made of dark magic, but he doesn't use it like that. He's safe."

Purple hair was suddenly right next to him again as he looked him over, "Why are y'all all," Shadow motioned around him, "stuck together? I know you can't stand each other for that long." 

Four grimaced, the group didn't know and this whole situation looked shitty. He pressed his hands to his temples to calm the headache that built right behind his eyelids. 

"What does that mean?" Times voice is above him, seeming louder than normal. "Stuck together?" 

Shadow turned to him quizzical, "Like not himself. They're not split up like they're supposed to be." 

"There's nothing wrong with Four. He's not stuck with us." Warrior's voice is sharp and angry as he glares down at the shade. Shadow frowns as he tucks further behind his friend. 

"Four, who is this?" Wind repeats even though he's already answered. 

"Of course there's something wrong. He's not supposed to be Link anymore. Not stuck with you, I'm sure he enjoys this, he's stuck with all of himself." Fours began hyperventilating, hand ripping itself out of Shadow's to run through his hair. This is not how he wanted to do this. The others are already mad. How mad are they going to be when they learn the truth?

'We're stressing him out. We're going to hurt Four, stop you guys.' Green's voice tried to soothe gently. 

'We're fucked! They know about dark magic and now Shadow might as well be speaking in fucking riddles. They have no clue what the fuck is going on.' Blue's angry, at Shadow, at Four, at Hylia. 

'Legend shot Shadow! Did you fucking see that?!? Why are we ignoring that, we need to check his shoulder-' 

'Vio it's okay I'm sure he didn't mean to. Unless he did. Oh Goddess what if Legend shoots Four for using the magic, what if they don't like Shadow? What-' 

"-Hey, hey, it's okay. I didn't mean to stress you out. Come on, open your eyes and let me see who I'm talking to." Shadow's voice is soft in his ears and his hands are kind in his hair. Four's eyes shoot open, flashing green, red, blue, purple. They settle on gray for just a moment before flipping back through the order backwards. Shadows claws softly press through the sensitive parts of his scalp.

"Hylia, you've never been this stretched out Rainbow. How long have y'all been like this? Come on, split for me, okay? It's easier with all of us, right?" Shadow's forehead is pressed against his. His nose touching his own just barely as he guides a hand to his sword. Four hears Shadow hiss when the world lights up around them. 

Red opens his eyes. "Oh thank the Goddess." He lays out flat on his back as he stretches. Blue is standing next to him, exhaling a long sigh as he closes his eyes and cracks his neck. Green is on his knees to blue's other side hands running across the floor.

Vio's face is nested in Shadow's hands as he tries to calm his breathing. Shadow leans forward enough to press a kiss to his forehead and giggle into his hair. "You're friends were mean." 

Vio's eyes shot open as he looked around, pulling himself out of Shadow's hold. "Where are we? Shadow where are the others?" 

Shadow frowned as he laced his hand with Vio's, "They were stressing you out. I just brought you home to calm down." Shadow is mindful of his claws when Vio's hands twitch in his own. 

Vio's eyes took in the familiar room, their living room. It was clean and tidy with no one around but Shadow, dishes drying in the rack he could see. A soft colored tapestry had been added behind their couch, the fireplace was warm. Shadow had been cooking before they'd shown up. The hearty smell of Red's favorite soup fills his senses. Vio's heart hurts when he realizes Shadow didn't feel anyone for the months they were away. Their connection severed by alternative timelines too far in the future and past for Shadow to ever reach. 

Shadow has put his hands back on his face as he presses a kiss to his lips. Vio's hands come up to grab at the black tunic. When they break apart they take a long moment to just stare at each other. "Thank you." Vio whispers in the air between them.

"Where have yall been?" Shadow's voice is wavering, his hands sliding from Vio's face to his shoulders, holding him an arms legth away as he stepped back, "Zelda and I looked for- I couldn't feel any of you. I thought..." His voice breaks for a moment, "I don't know what I thought. Where have yall been?" 

"We've been traveling, Shadow, it wasn't our fault. Hylia teleported us to somewhere far from here." Greens hand is on Shadow's shoulder. Red is standing right behind Vio for a second, then he's wrapped around Shadow in a hug. He's nearly crushing him but Shadow is just staring off beyond them. His hands drop to his sides, Red hugs him tighter, face pressing into his tunic as his body shakes the way it always does when he cries. Vio can feel Blue standing behind him, itching for his turn to make sure Shadow is really there. That they're really home. 

"You just..." Shadow makes eye contact with Blue, "Left. I could feel all of you and the next moment it was gone. I was about to teleport to Red to ask him about your birthday party. I was a second too late to see what happened, but I found Blue's hat and nothing else. I didn't know what-"

Blue lunges forward to hug Shadow, red still latched on. "Shut up." Blue moves his head to Shadow's shoulder, "Shut up, idiot. There's nothing you could have done. We don't know how long we have, so just shut up with that shit, alright?" He steps back, shrugging Green off of him to look him in the eye, "Shut up with that." 

Vio's nodding behind him, hands twitching at his sides, "We really need to go back to the others. Shadow could you bring them there if we went with to explain?" 

"Why were y'all merged? You hate being Link." Red pulled off of him, finally, hand finding Shadow's so he could link their fingers together. His right hand went to his face to wipe at tear tracks. Blue wrapped an arm around Red's shoulders, shushing him gently.

"We had to. It was the easiest way to do this. They wanted THE hero. Not heroes. We don't have the mark when we're separated." Vio's explanation is gentle as he reaches for Shadow's free hand. "We're back for a little bit, but I don't know how long. The others are probably worried. We need to explain this to them." 

Shadow holds his offered hand, bringing the fingers up to his mouth to kiss softly at. Shadow's eyes slide closed as he nuzzles against the limb before he blinks them back open slowly. 

"You want me to take you back there or bring them here?" 

"Could you bring us there and we can all come back later? After we explain?" 

Shadow nodded, Vio's hand still pressed to his cheek, "Of course beloved. Do you want to remerge?" 

"I guess we have to," Green sighed, "but after we explain, we can stay split while we're here. I don't know about afterwards, it might be dangerous to do portals split." 

Vio hummed in agreement, "Any time out of Link's head is a blessing. Considering we faint half the time going through a portal split is a bad idea." 

Shadow realeased both hands as he stepped back to give them room. The light click of the swords touching together made Shadow duck out of the light for a moment. 

With Link in front of him Shadow shifted on his feet uncomfortably, "Better?" 

"No." The defeated sigh as he looked down at his hands made Shadow want to hug him again, "but let's get this over with."

Shadow reached out, waiting for Link to grab his hand in return. Four blinked before realizing what he wanted, "Sorry." His hand was cold in the warmth of the Shades hand, "It's been so long." 

Shadow leaned into him, nuzzling their faces together, itching to get closer. He picked up his feet, pulling himself and Link back to where he'd found them. He dropped Four softly on his bottom, right where the other Links were at. They had began to go down the trail, towards where Four had pointed earlier, they would have made it to the house. 

Wind's head whipped around to him when he let out a soft "oof" when he connected with the earth. "Four!" He turned back towards him before Warrior grabbed him by the back collar of his shirt, "Wait Wind, how do we know it's really him?" 

Four rolled his eyes, "It's me, idiot. You got that scarf from your mother for your knight's school graduation." He stood and fixed the hem of his tunic, "Look, I should've explained somethings before we came here but I didn't think we'd get dropped here, at least for a while. What do you guys know about the four sword?" 

"It's powerful." Twilight spoke up, "I've seen you use it before. It does great work." 

"It's enchanted with something." Legend narrowed his eyes, "It's got magic all over it, but so does most of the shit we lug around." 

"It's magic, definitely, but what I- we use that magic for is the interesting part." Four took a calming breath, feeling the ghost of fingers in the shadow of his palm. He's right there, supporting. "When I drew the Four Sword, I split into separate parts. I was able to use each of my abilities to a heightened degree due to them being focused."

His left hand rubbed across his chest, a sign that Red was nervous, "I'm still "split", but I merged when I ran into all of you. Together all four parts make Link, but it's very hard to stay fused as Four after so much time being split up, and I can't..." their voice cracked. 

'Red it's okay.' Green's pressing into the other hue's corner of their mind, 'We can do this.' 

'I don't want to hurt anyone.' Red's voice is soft. He feels their hand latch onto the hilt of their sword, 'Blue! Wait-!" 

The flash of light sends Blue on his ass this time. He reaches for Red, a hand on his shoulder. Red shoved him away, "I told you to wait." 

"You were just going to freak yourself out. Stop it." Blue lets him be angry a few feet away from him. 

Vio and Green stand looking at the others. 

"...What the fuck?" Wind is standing at the front of the group now, his hand touching Green, "...Four?" They make eye contact between the two of them. 

Wind burst out laughing, "Oh my Goddess, this makes so much more sense. All the talking in your sleep, arguing with yourself, holy shit Four." 

Vio's pulling Red off the ground as he grimaces, "We absolutely do not talk in our sleep." 

"We have to introduce ourselves!" Red's shooting up and away from Blue, pulling the other hero to his feet with him, "We're not technically Link. Link only exists when we're merged, otherwise I'm Red!" 

He turned his gaze to Blue, eyes baring into him. He rolled his eyes, "Take a guess. I think they can figure it out." 

"Aw Blue! That's no fun!" Red shoved at him playfully, "But I guess you're right. Blue, Green, Vio, and Shadow." Red ran through the list as he pointed each brother out. Shadow popped up behind Vio, hugging him from behind as he beamed at the group. "I guess we're lucky we came out different colors, otherwise this would be confusing." 

"Four sword. But there's five of you?" Hyrule's tilted expression scanning through the group. 

"He's not from the sword." Vio's hand clasped with his as Shadow, allowing the other to half hide behind him, "He came from a mirror." 

"...the dark mirror?" Twilight spoke softly, "He smells like it. No offense." 

"None taken, you're correct actually!" Shadow affixed himself over Vio's back hovering slightly, "But I'm good now!" 

Vio's hand squeezed over Shadow's with his, happy that he'd gotten to where he could talk about this so openly. Shadow kissed the back of his head. He leaned back into the touch.

"Now?" Time's question was asked with raised eyebrows. 

"We can talk about it at our house. These woods are safe but there's a lot of prying ears around." Green nods to Shadow.  
\---

When Shadow brings them home, he drops them two at a time as he does his best to make sure he doesn't miss anyone. He brings Legend last, complimenting his aim, and saying he's almost as good as Vio. 

The living room was large, their father building onto the house when he was a child. Their parents had planned to have six children and wanted each to have their own space. When his mother died, Dad still finished the rooms 'just in case one of our neighbors needs help.' Now the seven bedrooms are a little over half used. 

When Dad passed away, they all went in his room one last time and since then the doors been closed. Dad had moved into Granddad's room after he passed, so all the feelings are trapped in that far away room. All of the shades have their own rooms in the hallway on the other side of the house, clearly painted and themed. The last door is painted pink for Zelda to use when she's here. 

"There's tons of room here. We can crash in Shadow's room and we can split the rest of the rooms other than that one." Green pointed at the brown door, "That was dad's. We don't go in there, okay?" 

"We can honor your request, Green. Thank you." Time smiled down at him. He felt heat rush to his face as he looked away. Time was going to ask him about 'Now' soon. 

"Ah!! I have to clean my room. Hold on don't go in there!" Red raced into his door and slammed it behind him. Green laughed when he heard the door lock behind him. He turned back to continue talking when he heard he door open again. 

"Is it that bad Red? I thought you were cleaning for the party-" Blue was cut off when Red raced past him and ran to Shadow, a gift bag in his hand. 

"You remembered! You dork, you know you don't have to get me anything." Red sifted the bag open so he could peek inside.  
He squealed happily as he pulled out a sketchbook and a pencil set. A cookbook came out of the bag too and Red bounced on his feet as he looked through the charms in the bottom of the bag. 

"For your collection. Also your room was terrible so I cleaned it so Vio wouldn't have to." Vio smiled as he watched Shadow explain the pen set, probably how whatever clerk had explained it to him. Green eyed his own door and he could feel Blue trying to not reach for his. 

"What are y'all waiting for? Get your stuff! I've waited long enough." Vio decided to humor him and popped into his own room. He'd hardly used it, often falling asleep in the study or in Shadow's bed. Still, he took notice of it was clean. No dust or anything. His notes from the portals had been nearly piled and his ink closed to keep it from drying out. It smelled of fresh linen and pine. 

Shadow must've alphabetized his book shelf, and made all of the table tops clutter free. His outfit Red had picked for their birthday still sat on his nightstand, along with a purple gift bag. 

"I got you flowers too." He turned to look at his boyfriend, "but they were going to wilt. So I pressed them and made one a paper weight and the others into bookmarks." Vio's fingers ran over the items stacked on his nightstand. In the clear amber sat a red rose, perfectly preserved and the perfect size for his desk. Among the pressed flowers he spotted his own favorites mixed with Shadows. 

"You're so sappy. Thank you." Vio tilted the bag towards him to look inside.

\---

Shadow was invited to Vio and Wild's reading lesson that night. Wild was getting incredibly good very quickly, bits of his memory picking back up. His own Hylian was only a touch off and reading books from their childhood seemed to make Shadow happy too. Wild and Shadow signed excitedly to each other as they worked through one of their books. 

"You don't have to sign to him Shadow. He's probably got the best set of ears of all of us." Vio flipped the page of his book. He let Shadow take over this part of the lessons so he could get a good chunk into his new book. 

"I know but it's fun! I miss signing, but I don't miss when I used to have to use it. Besides some of his signs are different, we're just ironing out the language barrier." Shadow hadn't signed since he got stuck in the mirror. He could follow the others around as their actual Shadow but it wasn't the same. Vio had taught him a form of sign so the could communicate clearly.

Red had loved it, engaged in every lesson with the others. Blue knew more than enough to use it and understand it even though he pretended to be indifferent to it. Green was surprisingly the one who knew the least, though he could pick up most things he'd get lost if they went too fast. 

"Vio, can I see you for a moment? I'm having trouble in the cellar." Green's head popped around the corner as he smiled at the group. Vio set his novel down moving out of Shadow's embrace. 

"Yeah of course. Wild, we'll finish up in just a moment, okay? Why don't you practice with Shadow?" 

"Oh yes! Read me... This one!" Shadow's hands plucked a bright sheet from the bottom of the stack and handed it over to him. Wild smiled as he raised his hands to start signing the sentences. 

After Vio turned the corner he looked Green in the face, "Okay, spill, what's wrong?"

Green sighed as he rounded the corner to the stairs, starting down them, "Red's upset. Blue's with him but he calms down faster with all of us. I think it has something to do with Shadow." 

Vio blinked at his brother's back, "Shadow didn't do anything wrong." His words were sure, confident. Shadow had been amazing while they were gone. Green's hand found the doorknob at the end of the stairs and pushed through. 

Dad had bought a chest long ago, and had it enchanted with ice keeping abilities. It could freeze things overnight, keep food good for months. It had been a lifesaver during the hot summer. Red loved to cook servings for his brothers and put them away in here, all they had to do was warm it up when they were hungry. When he was stressed he'd cook and fill the freezer an eighth of the way, enough for a few days of meals. 

The lid of the freezer was open, Red was on the floor with Blue wrapped around him, various metal pans around him. When Vio got close enough, he realized the Freezer was full. Red looked up at his brothers when they drew closer, "He had to buy a second one," his tear-soaked eyes traveled to a new chest across the basement, "He filled it up. It's all our favorites." 

Vio looked down at the wrapped pan closest to him, written in purple it had the date and scribbled beneath it said 'Eggplant Parmesan, it was sunny today'. Vio covered his mouth as he scanned over the dishes. They'd been rotated- oldest on top and the newest on bottom. Each color coded with the date, the dishes name, and a little anecdote. 

'Green bean casserole, I saw Zelda today.' 

'Strawberry Cheesecake, I forgot to water your plants.' 

'Blueberry tarts, I found your hat.' 

Green placed a hand on his shoulder as he continued to read through them. 

"He cleaned my room and changed my sheets and took care of my plants even through they're by the huge window he hates. I was going to clean out the meals I left in here so I could leave him some but its-" Blue shushed Red as he wiped the tears off his face, "It's full. He left me gifts in my room from our birthday. There was random stuff in there with notes of why he got it for me. There was a new plant, a petunia, I told him I was going to get one but I never did." 

Vio could hear Green's breath hitch as he teared up aswell. "Shadow doesn't have to eat." 

Blue looked up from where he was hugging Red, "What?" 

"Shadow doesn't have to eat. He told me once while we were still at the fire temple. He just likes sitting at the table with us. He made food and didn't eat it because he couldn't sit at the table with us." Both of Vio's hands dropped the frozen breakfasts, lunch, dinners, treats, everything that was in Red's cookbooks and more. A few failed dishes still wrapped and put away with a frowny face on them, a code for Red needing to try again. He crossed the room and threw the other one open, eyes scanning all the uncooked meats he'd wrapped away. Specific cuts he liked when Red made them. A base for cinnamon rolls that Blue sometimes made when he was in the mood. Fresh veggies from Vio's garden that Green could season and fry without messing it up too much. 

He slammed it and turned to go back up the stairs, tears streaming down his face. Green shouted after him, and he heard all of them clatter as they tried to follow. 

Shadow smiled down at Wild as he watched him sign away the texts he'd read a hundred times before. It was nice to get to use sign after being alone for so long. He heard Vio running back up the stairs and he turned to smile at him. His expression crumbled when he saw tear tracks, "Vi! Shhh, shhh, what's wrong darling?" He teleported to right in front of him as he wiped tears off his face he was crushed by purple clad arms in an embrace. 

"What was it beloved?" He kissed at his forehead, "Was it Blue? I can kick his ass for you-" 

"Shadow." Vio's arms clung tighter, the rest of the hero rounding the corner and making eye contact with him. 

"Oh Golden Goddesses, all of you? Come 'ere." He looped his arms over Vio's shoulder making grabby hands at the others. The other three joined in, Blue with some hesitance, before a sigh escaped them all at the same time. Green peered at Wild who made a concerned noise. He signed a quick, 'Okay?' and he nodded to the champion before shutting his eyes.

"What happened? I'm right here, it's okay." He leaned over to kiss at Red's cheek, nuzzling Green lightly. Blue's head leaned into his shoulder as he shuddered. "Why are we crying?" 

"I love you." Vio's lips caught his, "So much. I'm so sorry." 

Shadow frowned as he connected their foreheads lightly, "I love you too. What's this about?" 

"You filled the freezer." Green pulled back away from their hug. 

"Oh! That's why I got the second one! So Red would still have room to-" 

"That's not it dumbass. Try again." Blue pulled back this time, face dry but eyes red. 

Shadow's brow creased, "Is it because the frowny face ones? I just left them in their so Red could help me fix them. We can get rid of them." 

"That's not it either." Red let out a shuddering exhale as he pulled back, "one more try?" 

"...Because I didn't fill both? I don't know." Vio pulled back and looked him in the eyes. 

"You are the best person in the world, you know that?" He dried his face before looking in his eyes, "You take such good care of us. I'm sorry we couldn't let you know where we were." 

"We're crying because I did a good thing? I'm still confused." Shadow used his sleeve to wipe at Red's tears. 

"They're happy tears. Because we know how much you love us." 

Shadow tilted his head as he processed this. "Do y'all remember when I moved in?"

Shadow moved them to the couch. Wild must've left in the middle of their group hug and taken his notes with. "Y'all got me out of the mirror and already had a place for me? Red picked out blankets and rugs, Vio built and filled a bookcase for me, Blue painted the walls and fixed the door, Green made and hung those blackout curtains so I could be comfortable. When I was in the mirror, I couldn't see or feel any of you. It was the same when y'all got snatched into a portal." 

Vio and Red took up both of his sides as Green and Blue sat on the floor in front of him. "I thought about how I could keep your house clean and ready for when I got you back. I knew you'd all be hungry. A clean bed feels good after all that time on the road. Having something to look forward to made it easy." He closed his eyes for a moment, "Well, not easy, but it hurt a little less. Zelda told me we should think about making a grave so I could have a place to mourn. We put four next to mine, do y'all remember where that is?" 

"Under the willow near the castle." Greens answer was instant, "We could never forget." 

"Back when I was working under Ganon and Vaati, he told me when I killed Link I'd know. When the Hero died I'd feel it in every fake bone of my body. I could know with certainty that he wasn't coming back. I was supposed to be the cue for when to put me back in the mirror after I did my job. But after you two dueled I didn't feel anything." 

"I didn't die." Greens foot taps Shadow's, "you know that." 

"I didn't feel anything again. It felt the same. I figured if Vaati told the truth about anything it was that. So, I didn't feel you die so I knew you'd been out there somewhere I just had to find you. When Zelda told me I was getting unhealthy about it she offered to move me to the castle but..." Shadow's eyes became glossy as he twirled the end of his tunic in his hands. "This was your grandfather's forge. The marks on the doorframe of the living room track how tall you've gotten, even though that's not much." They shared a small chuckle. 

"The village thought I did something. I don't blame them, I used to be evil and all that, but it still hurt. They tried to get me to leave." Vio didn't even notice that his hand had found Shadow's like it always does. He held it tighter. 

"How?" Blue's voice is stern, "How do you mean?" 

"They told me I wasn't welcome. Zelda fought them on it but I wasn't allowed in any of the shops or parks. The librarian let me in though. They would yell at me asking about all of you and one day I.... I was bad about it. I was leaving Elliot's after he let me use the klin and Estun stopped me. She said I wasn't welcome on her road so I apologized and made to turn around. She just kept... Antagonizing me. She smacked the pot out of my hands and it shattered and I just lost it. I yelled back and growled but I didn't put my hands on or near her. I just came home and cried." Vio pulled Shadow's head onto his chest as he stoked his hair. 

"... They called me the monster that killed the heroes. I started to think maybe you left because of..." He pressed his face closer to Vio as he felt fingers carding through his hair. The others spoke words of encouragement, denial that it was his fault, but it felt like that day again. 

Link was going to leave again. With all of his new friends. Shadow couldn't go. He'd be here, protecting the Hylains that tried to burn their house down. Zelda did everything she possibly could but that didn't stop the midnight attacks. Holding down the house sometimes meant days without rest. He'd moved the dark mirror go the castle after one of the ballsy villagers had tried to shatter it. 

Shadow just let himself be held, the first positive touch in months. Zelda had tried to hug him, hold his hand encouragingly, but he'd yanked away from her. He didn't want pity. He wanted this, he wanted love. He felt Vio press kisses into his hair and Green rubbed circles into his back softly. Blue was just there, strong presence making him feel better. Red had latched onto his side. 

It's okay now. They're all home now.


End file.
